Stone catcher for beet slicers



1,642,705 Sept. 209 H. R. TUTTI-E I- I STONE CATCHER FOR BEET SLICERSFiled June 213. 192e; 2 .sheets-sheen woswdioz l 1,642,705 Sepf- 20 1927`H. R. TUTTLE STONE CATCHR FOR BEET SUICERS Filed June 23, 1926 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented sept; 2o, 1927.

' UNITED STATI-:s

HOWARD `RAY TUTTLE, 0F BLISSFIELD, MICHIGAN.

sfroNn CATCHER Fon 4ennui sLIcEns.

n Application filed June 23,

An object of my inventionis to provide an improved stone catcher lforbeet slicers of' the drum type commonly known as Magnin slicers, ofwhich there are many in use in theUnited States. My invent-ion ischaracterized' by the fact that my rock catcher can be easily andquickly thrown into operatingV position when a rock is discovered in theslicer, and also that when same is in its operating position the beets,rock, etc. will pass in a. continuous stream from inside the slicer intomy rock catcher vandy automatically out through t-he end of same, whichresults in an action that is much more effective in removing the rock orother hard foreign substance from the slicer, than can be obtained. withthe roc-k catchers ordinarily furnished on these slicers.

Itis understood that the presence ofrocks or other hard foreignsubstances such ras iron, nuts, bolts, etc. in the slicer -is veryobjectionable, as same destroys or greatly impairs the knives whichrevolve in the slicer to cut the beets which are continuously fed intosame. Y A

The rock catcher ordinarily used on slicers ofthe above lmake consistsof a cylinder passing into the Slicer, the outer end of said cylinderbeing closed and having a small handle the length of which approximatelyequals the diameter ofthe cylinder, for the purpose of turning thecylinder on its'seat when a rock is discovered in the slicer. At anappropriate Vplace in the cylindrical wall of said rock catcher, arectangular opening is vformed therein, for permitting the beets, stone,etc. to yentery this rock catcherkwhen same is thrown or'rotated intooperating position. Ordinarily, when there is no stone inthe `slicer,this cylinder is revolved into its normal position where the abovementioned cylindrical opening'is blanked off by the surrounding housingin such manner that no beets or other substance can enter the rockcatcher Awhich is thus kept empty to provide a small amount of spaceinto which the beets can rush, and presumably carry the stone,v when therock catcher is thrown into operation. The trouble with theseVordinaryrock catchers is that owing to the corrosion caused bythe beetjuices which saturateall parts of the slice'r during operation, theseordinary rock catchers, wino to ,their excessive bear' tapp surface, canonly' be turned ywith great nutty' 'which takes eltngether 'toe much1926. Serial NO. 118,109.`

time in effecting same, and the rock often y up to capacity, with theresultthat the rock isstill in and cannot be removed from the slicer atall, and then'considerable damage to the knives and other parts of themachine results. `Furthermore, since it is necessaryr finally to pullthis rock catcher out of the slicer inl order to empty fromit the beetsand .the rock whichwas hoped would'enter same, much diiiculty and delayin this respect is often encountered because many of thejbeets will bepart way in and part way out of this cylindrical rock catcher, and bylocking or jamming themselves crosswise of other Xed parts of thesurrounding slicer housing, practically bind or lock the rock catcher inthe slicer, making it very difficult to'k remove the rock catcher foremptying same. The delays often experienced on this account areexceedingly annoying.

All the objections previously mentioned,

areeliminated by my improved stone catcher.' I reduce the bearing area`of same to narrow a widths, which makes it exceedingly easy to rotatethe rock catcher into operating posi'- tiony in spite of the normalcorrosion at the points of bearing contact. This'easy rotation isfurther facilitated by means ofthe adequate turning lever which Ifurnish Ifor this purpose. Furthermore, bypopening the end of my rockcatcherwhich projects out through the'side of the slicer, in place'ofsealing up this end bya closure like in the common rock catchers, thebeets flow in the continuous stream from the inside of the slicerthrough my cylindrical rock catcher and out through the open end ofsame, until the offending rock, bolt or other lmatter, comes outof theslicer. At least the operator canori-:ach into my rock catcher throughthe @pen end of same with his hand, or can poke into saine with a rod,for the urpose of keeping the beets seatimieusy earning through and outof the open end of same until the rock comes out. Obviously this is muchmore practicable than the old type of rock catchers ordinarily furnishedon these slicers.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from theaccompanying drawings, the subjoined detailed description and theappended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through a beet. slicer equipped with myimproved stone catcher. In this figure the stone catcher 1s shown in itsnormal inoperative position corresponding to the time when there is nostone in the slicer to be removed.

Fig. -2 is a similar view showing the stone catcher only, but in itsoperative position f for removing the beets, stone, etc. from theslicer.

Fig. 3 is a transverseV section in plan through a slicer equipped withmy improved rock catcher.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the slicer showing my rock catcher in place.

Fig, 5 shows the principal member comprising my rock catcher, removedfrom the slicer.

The general parts of the slicer are well known, and consist of a rotarydrum carried on a horizontal shaft 1, and on the inner face of thisrotary drum are carried a continuous .series of beet cutting knives 2 ofwell known type. The beets are fed through a hopper 3, see Fig. 4, intothe slicerl where they quickly move into the position shown in Fig. 1,the spirally shaped pressure plate 4 serving to wedge or press thelbeets downward upon the knives to effectively cut same. v Toward theend of this pressure plate there is a cylindrical housing 5 for carryingthe cylindrical part 6 of the stone catcher, -and just beyond this stonecatcher is fastened the counterplate 7 which normally prevents the beetsfrom being ycompletely carried around the slicer as indicated in Fig.1,and which also serves to defleet the beets, stone, etc., into thestone catcher when the latter is revolved into its operating position asindicated in Fig. 2.

As best indicated in Figs. 3 and 5, this stone catcher consistsprincipally of a cylindrical member 6, having a more or lessrectangularly shaped opening therein, and also having relatively narrowbearing bands 9 .on the outer surface thereof, a long hand lever 1.0being also attached thereto. As indicated in Fig. 3 the cylindricalmember 6 projects through and beyond the stationary non-rotating sidemember 11 of the slicer. Suitable cleats .or straps 12 are fastened tothis side member 11, and cooperate in permanently holding the rockcatcher 6 in its housing 5, i. e. they prevent ythe rOvCk catcher bysame if necessary, I prefer to bevel theA edges 13 of same, adjacent theopening 8, as best seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. Also to prevent muck andfine cuttings from leaking into the clearance space between housing 5and cylinder 6, I prefer toV roll out the bevelled edges 13 of thecylinder as Yshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. A simple quicksopening latch ormember 15 preferably is also p rovided. This member furnishes a stop o rrest on which the hand lever 10 can normally rest in its horizontalposition, to prevent the rock catcher accidentally turning from itsnormally closed to its open operating position. In Fig. 3 the dottedposition of hand lever 10 is shown resting on this latch 15, theposition being dotted in as it does not correspond with the `openposition shown by the balance lof the rock catcher in this view,

The approximate relation between the hand lever 10 and the opening 8 inthe rock catcher is best shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 4, shows in full line theactual position o1' hand lever 10 corresponding to the normal closedposition of the rock catcher. It is seen to be resting on the latch 15.The ldotted position of hand lever 10 in Fig. 4 shows same swung aroundto its position when the rock catcher is in open operating position. Toswing this hand lever 10 from its horizontal closed p0- sition, downinto its open position, it yis merely necessary to rotate latch 15 outof the way horizontally around its pin 16, s ee Figs. 3 land 4, whichcan be veryqnikly done, and it is then practically no effort whatever toforce the hand lever 1 0 down into its `dotted position shown in Fig. 4for the purpose of quickly throwing the rock catcher into open position.When this is done lthe beets, rock, etc. will obviously pass from insidethe slicer, through opening 8l into the cylindrical rock catcher, andview'/ of the operating pressure these beets,I etc. will automaticallypush themselves out of the open end 17 of the rock catcher a continuousstream onto the Hoor, unt-il the roel; is discharged, after which thehand lever 10 can again be swung up intov its horizontal position toclose the rock catcher. Thereafter the voperation of the slicercontinues as usual, `the rock or other hard foreign` substance 'havingbeen safely removed from same. l

Owing to thecomparatively narrow width rae 'lll

of my bearing bands 9, there is obviously no considerable bearingresistance against the rotation of my rock catcher.

Various modifications and adaptations of iiiy improved rock catcher canof course be made in accordance with the tastes and desires of thedesigner for user thereof Without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

It is another important advantage of my rock catcher that same operatesto removek and catch the rock from the slicer, without stopping theslicer or in any Way retarding or interfering with the continued slicingoperation of the machine. This is not possible With the ordinary rockcatchers furnished in this kind of a Slicer. lVith those ordinary rockcatchers the slicer must invariably be stopped before therock catchercan be emptied of its beets, rock, and other trash, for the purpose ofbeing sure that the rock has been removed from the slicer. Since delaysof this character at the slicing machines, retard and delay the entiresugar factory, these delays at the Slicer are carefully guarded againstby the management of the sugar factories. Therefore in so far as my rockcatcher Wholly eliminates the delays just mentioned, its use is of greatadvantage.

I claim:

l. In a beet slicer having a stationary side member, a cylindrical drumrevolving about a horizontal axis and having cutting knives fastened onthe internal cylindrical face of saine, and a stationary housing Withinsaid cylindrical drum, a cylindrical rock catcher rotatably mounted insaid housing and projecting through said stationary side member, saidcylindrical rock catcher having a hand lever for turning same and havingthe end which passes through said stationary side Vmember open, saidcylindrical rock catcher also having an opening in the cylindrical faceof same arranged to afforda continuous passage from the inside of theslicer through the last said opening and -out through the open end ofsaid cylindrical rock catcher to the space outside of said slicer.

2. In a beet slicer having a stationary side member, a cylindrical drumrevolving about a horizontal axis and having cutting knives lfastened onthe internal cylindrical face of same, and a stationary housing Withinsaid cylindrical drum, a cylindrical rock catcher rotatably mounted insaid housin and narrow bearings between said cylin rical rock catcherand said housing for permitting the easy rotation of said rock catcherWithin said housing.

3. In a beet slicer a stationary side member having a hole therethrough,a drum. adapted to revolve around a horizontal axis, a stationaryhousing Within said drum, a cylindrical rock catcher rotatably mountedin said housing and having one of its ends normally open and locatedadjacent said hole through the stationary side member, said rock catcheralso having an opening through its cylindrical face arranged to afford acontinuous passage from the inside of said slicer through the last saidopening and out through said open end of the rock catcher and throughsaid hole in thestationary side member to the space outside said slicer.c

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Blissield, in thecounty of Lena- Wee, Michigan, this 12th of December, 1925.y

HOWARD RAY TUTTLE.

